ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.70.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ZTO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research cut ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Down 0.9%

ZTO stock opened at $20.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of -0.18. ZTO Express has a 52-week low of $18.63 and a 52-week high of $26.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.78.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, August 15th. The transportation company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a net margin of 19.03% and a return on equity of 15.90%. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s revenue was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ZTO Express will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ZTO Express (Cayman)

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 1,506.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 920,352 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,165,000 after purchasing an additional 863,078 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 400.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 618,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $15,575,000 after acquiring an additional 495,100 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 575.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 211,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,321,000 after acquiring an additional 180,110 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 10.4% in the second quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 1,891,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,322,000 after acquiring an additional 178,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brilliance Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the third quarter worth about $2,652,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

About ZTO Express (Cayman)

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. is a China-based express delivery and logistics company. It provides parcel collection, sorting, transportation and delivery services, serving e-commerce businesses, merchants and individual customers. The company operates a network of service outlets, transportation partners and sorting hubs across China. Its services also include freight forwarding, warehousing and cross-border logistics through its international business. Founded in 2002, ZTO is headquartered in Shanghai.